SC seeks gov't side on plea vs. K-12

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the side of the government regarding a petition to stop Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, which gave birth to the controversial K-12 Program that added two more years in high school education.

The SC required the respondents to comment on the petition and the application for a temporary restraining order within 10 days from notice, SC Public Information Office chief and spokesman Theodore Te said in a briefing.

Named respondents were the secretaries of Education, Labor and Employment, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; the chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education; the secretary general of the House of Representatives; and Miriam College.

The petition—filed by the "Coalition for the K to 12 Suspension," composed of four individuals and 16 groups led by the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines—claimed that with the K-12 Program, education workers are faced with the risk of early separation, forced retirement, constructive dismissal, diminution of salaries and benefits, labor contractualization, and a general threat to self-organization.

The petitioners said the fact that a new legislation is being proposed via House Bill No. 5493, which seeks to “mitigate the adverse impact of the K to 12 Law,” shows that the RA 10533 is "incomplete."

The House bill seeks to establish the tertiary education transition fund to develop and sustain tertiary education institutions during the transition period of the program.

According to the House bill, more than 70,000 college faculty and non-teaching personnel stand to lose their jobs because of the lack of first year college and second year college enrollees during the transition period starting 2016.

The petitioners said the controversial law failed to provide "full protection to labor and promotion of full employment and equality of employment opportunities, et al," in alleged violation of Article XIII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution.

The group also said the Implementing Rules and Regulations dated September 2013, the Joint Guidelines dated May 2014, and Department of Education Order Memo No. 2 Series of 2015 dated January 2015, which were all formulated based on the law, are against the law and subject school workers to unjust labor practices.

Under the enhanced basic education program of the Department of Education—called K to 12 or Kindergarten plus Grades 1-12—a student will be required to undergo kindergarten, six years of elementary, four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school.

The implementation of universal kindergarten began in school year 2011-2012, followed by a new curriculum for Grade 7 in school year 2012-2013.

School year 2016-2017 will mark the nationwide implementation of the Grade 11 curriculum, to be followed by the Grade 12 curriculum in school year 2017-2018.

An earlier report said that universities and colleges will lose 500,000 freshman college enrollees and more than 300,000 sophomore college enrollees once the implementation of the senior high school program starts in 2016. —Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News